This question is too basic; it can be definitively and permanently answered by a single link to a standard internet reference source designed specifically to find that type of information.
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I would say that it is on-topic, as it is asking the meaning of a word; it would eventually be a "general reference," but I am not sure I would close it for that reason. It is not even true it is too localized.
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kiamlalunoDec 18 '11 at 19:29

@Mahnax: how is somebody who doesn't know that shades means sunglasses supposed to guess that the emoticon means cool? Maybe he uses them to protect his eyes from the sun.
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TimLymingtonDec 18 '11 at 21:23

2 Answers
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The 8-) Emoticon represents a smiling face wearing sunglasses (shades is an informal word for sunglasses as mentioned above). The emoticon is taken to refer to the context being 'cool' (informal for good).

+1 for giving the answer that was needed rather than the literal one.
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TimLymingtonDec 18 '11 at 19:27

I don't generally use these "exotic" smileys, but to be honest I'd have been more likely to interpret this one as boffin (scientists are often stereotyped as wearing thick pebble-glasses). So I'd assume it meant something along the lines of "Whatever I wrote before this smiley should be interpreted as having come from a person who knows the technical details of what he's talking about"
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FumbleFingersDec 19 '11 at 17:03

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However when rendered by message boards (IPB, phpBB & vBulletin) in addition to Skype and MSN messenger the 8-) emoticon is always shown to be a smiling face wearing black opaque sunglasses. This doesn't really fit with the 'boffin' concept, which I believe is not correct =)
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RoryDec 19 '11 at 17:21